In 2021, we want to give you some special editions of the Travel Book throughout the year. Whilst there is still so many places to write about, I think it is also really fun to write about actual experiences that I have had whilst travelling. There have been so many interesting stories so I thought what better way to celebrate them then by telling you all about them

A Nerve wracking Bus Journey In NYC

I am someone that when I go abroad tends to use the public transport a lot and usually there us never any problems and you get from destinations A to B pretty quickly and without a fuss. It allows you to travel quickly and easier to places and usually you don’t really think about it. However, there was a journey that I will never forget because it was something that made me feel nervous and looking forward to our stop.

I had been living in New York City for the entire summer in 2010 and I was working there for three months. Once that time had sadly come to and end me and a friend I had made went down to Florida for a week to have fun at Disney World and Universal Studios. It was really good fun and we had a great time and then it came time to say goodbye and fly back to New York.

We arrived back at La Guardia in the afternoon at some time and we needed to take a bus as I was staying at my friends place for a night before I flew back to the United Kingdom. The bus that we got on was really packed because it was peak time at the airport and we had to sit down right at the back of the bus. I can’t remember who was sitting either side of me but my friend was opposite so we would talk ever so often on the trip.

All I remember was that there was a guy next to me and as soon as he heard I was British from my accent, that is when the issues started to occur. This man who I think was in his mid thirties at the time started to tell me about his experiences of going to the United Kingdom – usually I welcome this and I have heard a lot of fun stories on my travels of peoples adventures in my country and I love hearing them. However, this guy decided to tell me a really vivid story about the fact he was barred from entering the UK because of his machete he was trying to bring in with him. The whole time he was on the bus he wouldn’t stop telling me about his machete and knife collection that it made me feel really uneasy. It is one of the top three times I have been on public transport and felt very unsafe.